IO: No more windmills, tulips or wooden shoes

[JessicaAnn]

No Windmills, Tulips or Wooden Shoes, Please

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Windmills, tulips and wooden shoes may be among the most beloved emblems of the Netherlands, but they are symbols the Dutch government hopes to avoid after it takes up the EU presidency, local media said on Tuesday.

The government decided such symbols were too "corny" and would detract from the image of the Netherlands that Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende wants to portray when the Dutch assume the rotating presidency of the 25-nation bloc on July 1.

"The cabinet isn't denying traditional symbols such as wooden clogs and tulips, but nevertheless we want to portray a more modern image," a spokesman for Dutch European Affairs Minister Atzo Nicolai was quoted as saying.

He added that tulips and wooden shoes might be seen as something "nice, but totally nutty."

In place of those symbols, the Dutch emblem for the EU presidency will incorporate the letters "NL" and the national colors -- red, white, blue and orange -- in a design that spells out "EU."

Balkenende's government, however, has decided to embrace at least one traditional Dutch symbol during the six-month EU presidency.

As thank-you gifts to journalists and others, it will hand out painted tins of Stroopwafels -- a sticky sweet cookie made of waffles and caramel that is a favorite Dutch treat.

 

[Angela Harlem]

at least he's keeping the rollmops

 

[Salome]

I thought the red light district and hash were our national symbols

ah well

 

[Salome]

rollmops is hideous

a raw herring with onions on the other hand

 

[Angela Harlem]

please dont tell me you know what either of those tastes like.

 

[Salome]

of course I do

I wouldn't recommend a rollmops to anyone
to sour

but raw herring with onions

 

[nbcrusader]

I thought it was the little boy with his finger stuck in the dike....

 

[meegannie]

Or an old man in bondage gear.

 

[JessicaAnn]

I thought this was the national dutch symbol:

 

[zoney!]

I thought it was the little boy with his finger stuck in the dike....

in bed

 

[joyfulgirl]

I thought the red light district and hash were our national symbols

ah well

that's pretty much what I remember about my time in Amsterdam

damn that was some good hash

in bed

 

[Salome]

there is a windmill a couple of streets away from where I live
I did have wooden shoes when I was little
I think they've already exported all the tulips or something

 

[Popmartijn]

Thankfully they didn't prematurely decide that the Dutch football would be our national symbol. That would have been embarrassing...

*never had any clogs*

 

[Salome]

for such a small country we do have many national symbols though

 

[Angela Harlem]

The windmills are for grinding up the heads of your pot plants, yes?

 

[Salome]

it's an undercover organization indeedly

 

[Angela Harlem]

the real dutch national symbol